Bahçeli Lashes Out At Erdoğan On Foreign Policy

Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has heavily criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's foreign policy in the region and accused him of pretending to be against Israel's policies while behind the curtains working together with this country.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Bahçeli said Erdoğan has damaged Turkey's prestige with his policies in the region. Referring to the prime minister as “candidate Erdoğan,” Bahçeli claimed the prime minister is hurting the Palestinian cause and using the pain of the victims in Gaza as a pawn of politics. Erdoğan is running for president in a presidential election scheduled for Aug. 10.

“Candidate Erdoğan attacks Israel on the one hand but develops trade with this country on the other. His son, who has a fleet, continues to do profitable business with Israel and makes money,” said Bahçeli.

Turkey's mutual trade volume with Israel is expected to reached over $5 billion this year, the government said on Tuesday, representing a nearly 50 percent rise over 2009. The figure was $3.4 billion in 2009.

Accusing Erdoğan of being insincere in the Palestinian crisis, Bahçeli stated that while Erdoğan has repeatedly been displaying harsh reactions against Israel at his rallies and meeting speeches, his government has sold 124 tons of jet fuel to Israel to be used by aircraft that are currently bombing the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Bahçeli also claimed that Erdoğan is on the same page with Israel when it comes to supporting an independent Kurdish state in the region. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent public speech expressed his support for an independent Kurdish state in Iraq.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik has indicated that Turkey will recognize a Kurdish state in northern Iraq if the crisis-stricken country is divided, the Financial Times reported in late June.

“If Iraq is divided and it is inevitable, [the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)] are our brothers. … Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq is not good and it looks like it is going to be divided,” Çelik said in his remarks to the Financial Times. Çelik later said Turkey only supports the territorial integrity of Iraq.

“Candidate Erdoğan is in the same camp and in the same block as Israel on the Kurdistan issue. There is no difference between Netanyahu and Erdoğan,” said Bahçeli.

Calling Erdoğan a “monument of lying and hypocrisy,” Bahçeli said Erdoğan, as a “person who has no respect for the law,” is telling Israel to respect the law.

Bahçeli also said Erdoğan is a “clinical case who cannot get better even with treatment” and that he needs to stop talking on issues such as Gaza so as to not exploit the pain of innocent people.

The MHP leader claimed that Erdoğan is reluctant to convince Hamas to agree to a cease-fire with Israel because he sees increased violence as better for his own interests. The opposition parties and other critics say Erdoğan is exploiting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the hope of increasing his votes in the upcoming Turkish presidential election.

Bahçeli said it would be a great loss for Turkey if Erdoğan is elected president on Aug. 10.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)